Returning Freading books

[nabsltd]

My library allows 3 weekly checkouts through Freading, so I started at 0/3. I checked out 3 books ten days ago, and returned one via Adobe Digital Editions. Today, I went to check out another book because I assumed that the new week would give me 3 more checkouts, but it still showed 3/3.

So, I logged out of Freading and back in, and that reset the checkouts to 0/3, which is good, but not very intuitive when they have a "keep me checked in" box on their login.

But, I still show the 3 books that I checked out as "My Downloads", even though I returned one. Since there are a limited number of copies of each book available at my library, I return when finished, but does this work at all on Freading?

[jhowell]

Unlike OverDrive or Cloud Library, Freading doesn't enforce a limited number of copies per book. They have a limited number of weekly lends per customer across the entire catalog instead. So there is no point in returning a Freading book early. Another new library e-book provider, Hoopla, works the same way.

ETA: Personally I like this lending model better, but the larger publishers won't allow their books in these services.

[drypen]

Freading does allow a certain amount per week. My library allows 3 per week borrowed for a 2 week period. If I checkout the books at 1pm on Monday I cannot get anymore until 1:01pm the following Monday.

[jhowell]

Actually, it's a little more complicated. From the Freading FAQ:

What is the weekly limit?

Each library member has a weekly limit, set by the library, which governs book downloads. In the upper right corner, there is a counter which says how many books you have used, and how many are remaining. Example: 0/3 means the limit is 3 book loans per week, and you have used 0.

Unused book loans roll over each week for a four week period, a week being defined as a Monday to Sunday period of seven days, beginning at 12:01AM Monday, New York time, and going to midnight on Sunday. At the end of the fourth week from the time you first logged in, unused loans are cleaned out of your account, except for your original weekly allotment. The rolling over process then starts all over again, as a new four week cycle has begun. Your subscribing library decides the amount of book loans that users will have in their weekly allotment.

ETA: So if you use up your entire weekly allotment on Sunday you just have to wait until midnight to get your next weekly allotment.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Unlike OverDrive or Cloud Library, Freading doesn't enforce a limited number of copies per book.

I did not know that. So, I won't worry about returning.

Still, the "must log out to refresh checkouts" is annoying for those of us who keep our computer and browser running for weeks at a time without closing.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Still, the "must log out to refresh checkouts" is annoying for those of us who keep our computer and browser running for weeks at a time without closing.

In my experience, not totally shutting down your computer regularly starts to create problems: slowness, browser and program crashing, etc. I believe it's also a security risk. Best to close down your computer every night.

[nabsltd]

[QUOTE=BookCat;3398050]In my experience, not totally shutting down your computer regularly starts to create problems: slowness, browser and program crashing, etc.[quote]
I've never seen any of this. But, then, I also don't have dozens of poorly behaved background programs running like many people. Basically, if you don't have any of the cruft (toolbars, hardware "helpers", search engines, etc.) installed, you're fine.

My current uptime on Windows 7 is 76 days.

I believe it's also a security risk.

The #1 security risk on Windows is the person sitting at the keyboard, so, yeah, shutting down the computer would help with that. But, turning it on again and using it would bring the problem right back.

Yes, not patching can be an issue, but again, most patches fix issues that won't ever happen if the user doesn't click where he isn't supposed to. If you keep your browser, Flash, Java, and your PDF reader patched, you will cover most of the vectors, and shouldn't need to even log out.

[BookCat]

Restarting your computer by turning it off and on again seems to refresh it. I don't have lots of background programs but I've noticed that if I just hibernate or put the computer to sleep overnight and do this for several weeks it develops problems: becomes sluggish etc.

I'm no expert, but have been told that leaving your computer on and not doing much risks spybots (whatever they are) taking over your computer.

Personally, saving any necessay data then just closing down the browser and computer isn't a hassle. The next day when I open the browser I have the option to restore all the tabs I closed (on shutting down the browser) the day before. Simples!
Saves power too.